Babar Azam‘s prospects of becoming Test captain again have seemingly taken a major hit after the USA ended Pakistan’s chances of claiming a spot in the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup. Sources told Geo News that Shan Masood will retain the Test captaincy for their two-match red-ball series against Bangladesh in August. It was also reported that following the T20 World Cup fiasco, the board is disappointed in Babar’s ability to lead. The Bangladesh series will be the first stint for former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie as Pakistan’s red-ball head coach.
Masood was appointed Pakistan’s Test captain after Babar decided to leave captaincy in all formats in the aftermath of last year’s ODI World Cup. Shaheen was chosen to succeed Babar as the T20I skipper.
His brief run as the Pakistan skipper ended in April this year. Shaheen was removed from the T20I captaincy after leading the team in just one series against New Zealand. The Blackcaps outplayed Pakistan in all facets of the game and scripted a 4-1 T20I series defeat for the Shaheen-led team.
Before the T20 World Cup started, Babar was restored as the white-ball skipper. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), in a statement, described the change as a “strategic move.”
But PCB’s move didn’t pan out as they would have hoped. Gary Kirsten was brought in as the white-ball head coach ahead of the tournament to bolster their chances. However, Pakistan crashed out of the tournament in the group stage. They suffered consecutive defeats in their opening games against the USA and arch-rival India.
The two consecutive defeats sent them on the verge of elimination. They won their third game against Canada convincingly.
USA have qualified for the Super 8. Pakistan will conclude their campaign against Ireland on Sunday in Florida.
Pakistan T20 WC Squad: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.
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